Melting Heart
by Sigzix
Summary: FOR Tune4Toons AND MessengerOf Dreams's FIRESIDE TALES CONTEST. Meta-Knight may always seem tough on Kirby, but after being helped from a stupid mistake on his part, he believes the Star Warrior should be deemed as more than just that...


**I am EVERY late for this. Hopefully, it can still be entered into the contest. I've just been having severe Writer's Block and also wanted to write something sweet for my girlfriend. I'm sure she'll love it. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Super Smash Bros.**

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A slightly chilly breeze blew through the air, pulling brown and yellow leaves from their branches and falling down to the pile of leaves that had built up around each tree over the time of the Fall season. The sky's color could be seen as a faint blue color, indicating that it was morning. Only one ball-shaped man was awake though, wearing a silver mask, a dark-blue dimensional cape attached to a pair of shoulder pads of the same color, and a pair of metallic shoes. He was making his way up a steep hill, carrying a hardcover book in his gloved hand.

_'Hopefully, the boy won't be near to interrupt me this time,'_ Meta-Knight thought, referring to his rather annoying pink friend of the same shape as himself.

Though he did care for his friend Kirby, he couldn't go on ignoring the troubles he had accidentally caused to their home planet, Pop Star. From releasing a wizard who tried to control Dream Land to opening a chest that contained an ancient evil sealed away long ago, the puff was a nuisance that truly meant nothing else but to do the right thing...and also fill his stomach that is constantly rumored to be a black hole leading to nowhere. The only thing the knight wanted to do was finally finish his book in peace. The cold wind blew towards him and inside his mask, making him shiver slightly for only a second. He hadn't seen forecasts of chilly weather before leaving the mansion and believed it was only the morning air, so he kept walking. He eventually found a nice spot to read, sitting and leaning against a tree on the top of the hill. He placed his Galaxia Sword by his side, opened the book, and began to read in peace, occasionally reading excerpts from the book out loud.

"The shell of the young man slowly walked towards his former self, the abomination known to the rest of the world as the Apocalypse, as he clenched his chest in agonizing pain. The color red covered the left side of his face, forcing him to keep the left eye shut, and the area of his chest covered by his hand. Though battered, bruised, and nearly crippled by fear, he refused to die at a moment such as this. He refused to let the Apocalypse control him, his love, or the world..."

As an hour had passed by, the sky was much brighter than it was the moment he began reading, but the cold air was still present, though he had grown accustomed to the cold by the first hour of reading. Soon enough, he could hear some of his friends towards the direction of the Mansion, from Crazy's wake-up call to the incomprehensible scolding received by Pikachu afterwards.

"Oh boy..." Meta-Knight focused his eyes back on the book, his eyes half-closed.

As more time went by, the Star Warrior began to grow sleepy, but continued to read, struggling to keep his eyes open. He was losing his grip on the book, occasionally letting it slip from his hands and having to pick it up and find the page he lost. After losing focus on the book for what had felt like the one-hundred fifty-first time, he placed the book down beside him and closed his eyes.

"An hour or two's rest wouldn't hurt...," he said to himself before dosing off. As he slept, the air began to grow colder and a single snowflake slowly descended into his mask and between his eyes.

Three hours later, while Meta-Knight was still asleep, soft blankets of snow slowly covered every area, including the Mansion.

Inside the kitchen of the Mansion, the pink, ball-shaped young man known Meta-Knight referred to was sitting on a stool, kicking his feet as he drank a large glass of water. As he drank, his body slowly became as clear as the water and a swirled tiara appeared on top of his head, which had become a small wave of water. He looked at his clear, stubby hands and solid, giant feet before smiling, hopping off the stool and running off, leaving drops of water on the floor. Due to his small height and lack of fingers, he had to jump up to grab the doorknob and swing his body to twist the door open. Needless to say, it was awkward for him. After opening the door and landing on the floor, a gust of icy wind had blown onto his face, covering him in a thin sheet of ice due to his body becoming liquid. The cold air didn't really earn a reaction from the glob of water as he simply walked outside and awkwardly pulled the door shut.

With a cute smile on his face as he saw his friends already playing in the snow and enjoying theirselves. Pikachu, Ness, Toon Link, and King Dedede were building a colossal snowman with a bucket for a hat and a single branch sticking out and a mitten attached as a hand. Mario and Peach were having a snowball fight against Luigi and Sonic, with both teams hiding behind tall snow walls. Popo and Nana racing on sleds against Jigglypuff and Pichu from a distance. Kirby could see almost everyone that he would expect outside in the weather and having a great time as if they wanted to make every day of the Winter season last.

Actually, he had realized that there was one person missing. Although Meta-Knight wasn't one to play in snow, he and the pink puff would build an ice sculpture together. Kirby believed that the knight would be waiting for him, wrapped in his cape, but he couldn't be seen. Believing he still may be inside the mansion, Kirby awkwardly walked back inside the mansion, returning to normal so to not leave a trail of water where he walked and be scolded by Master Hand later. In a minute, he arrived in front of Meta-Knight's door and politely knocked.

"Hello?" he called, swinging his stubby arms back and forth as he waited for a reply. After a few seconds of silence coming from the other side of the door, he knocked again, but harder. "Hellooooooo~?" He still didn't receive a reply from the knight. He knocked for a third time, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited. After another minute, the puff still didn't receive a reply, making him frown a bit.

"Hmm...," he groaned. _'Maybe he's a heavy sleeper...?'_

He reached for the doorknob, twisted it, surprised to find that it was locked, and then opened the door only to find no one inside. Meta-Knight's room was probably the cleanest in the Mansion-even tidier than even the princesses' rooms, though that might have been just because he barely had a material items in the room. In the room was a small bed with his sword and scabbard laying on the foot of it, a small desk where unfinished blueprints for the Halberd 2.0 were resting, and a small drawer. The drawer contained pairs of expensive white gloves, an extra mask to keep his "darkest secret" hidden, and extra dimensional capes just in case the mask failed to contain his "life-changing secret" for long. Kirby had no idea how expensive and important these items were to the knight. He had a good idea after he decided to dress as the knight for Halloween only two months ago, earning him a warning.

There was one thing Kirby nearly missed that he'd never seen before though, placed next to the unfinished blueprints in the desk. It was a pocket-sized handbook with a worn-out leather cover that blended in with the color of the desk, making it almost unnoticeable.

"Huh...?" Kirby, letting curiosity get the best of him, grabbed the book and opened to the first page with text in it.

_'March 23, 1993_

_My team of Knights and I are on our way to meet the so-called "King of Dreamland", Mr. Dedede to reach an agreement concerning the Star Rod that was retrieved from the sacred Fountain of Dreams. After being told that the citizens of the land have not had pleasant dreams recently, I grew worried that a fool had dared to touch the Star Rod. I was correct, but the fool was not without reason. Dedede had broken the Star Rod into fragments and hid all but one. After being told that the wizard Nightmare could be after the Star Rod, it was a sudden yet smart thing to do in the end. The team and I wanted to take the piece he kept to himself and run off with it to a far away location and pray that Nightmare could not find us, but Dedede wasn't willing to just give it away. No, he wanted currency in return for helping keep the land away from danger. No matter , as I'm confident he can't tell the difference between real and fake gold once we trade with him.'_

"Teehee..." Kirby snickered, thinking about how Dedede's reaction to the fake gold played out. He flipped to the next page and read the next entry in the book.

_'March 25_

_In all honesty, I'm surprised by what I've figured out this day. It turns out that my entire race wasn't killed by the Dark Matter Swarm decades ago. I found another similar to me in features. The eyes, shape, feet size. It was unmistakable that the pink boy is of the same race as me. And, like the rest of the race and me included, it was a skilled fighter. So skilled, he defeated me and members of my team single-handedly. I felt humiliated. Humiliated, but oddly satisfied and happy. I'm happy that I'm not the only one of my kind in this world after all. If he is still alive, surely others of our kind are out there too. Though I have lost the fight against this child, I will continue to watch over him. I may even challenge him to another battle.'_

"Hm?" Kirby also wondered if there were any other survivors of their race as well, from time to time. He shrugged and decided to skip a few dozen pages until he believed to have found something interesting.

_'March 21, 1996_

_I was correct. Kirby and I aren't the only survivors. Unfortunately, I had unwillingly challenged the man, who, according to the wish granter Nova, was considered the greatest warrior in the galaxy, something I wished to be since I became a knight. The battle was intense. So intense, we both bled. My mask became cracked, my wings were ripped from my body, and my cherished Galaxia sword was on the verge of breaking. Somehow, almost miraculously, I was able to kill the knight, only to figure out that the knight was my first mentor who had gone mad with power and deemed to violent to the world. It was a great displeasure to kill my mentor, despite the end of the fight granting me the title as the greatest warrior in the Galaxy. But... I will carry this title with pride, in memory of Galacta Knight.'_

"Awww..." Kirby was a little saddened by what he had read. He would probably feel similar if he were in the same situation. He shivered at the thought of being forced to fight Meta-Knight to the death if the situation ever called for such a thing. He flipped through more pages until he found the last page with writing in it, which was only halfway through the book. It was his most current entry from yesterday.

_'December 16, 2012_

_It has been more than a year since I bought a lengthy novel from a rather greedy salesman I came across in Smashville, but have not been able to finish it in the two months I predicted to finish it. I have been busy with the SSB tournament throughout the year and I had just recently stopped an alien from taking over my planet only for Kirby to ask me to play with him. Right after we had saved the planet, I might add. I know he's still a child somehow, but he can be bothersome during many times. I'm just now realizing how much so. Ever since I decided to stay in Dream Land ever since the Nightmare fiasco, he always bothered me in some way. I'm nearly finished with the novel and I need just a few more hours to myself to finish it. I may wake up extra early tomorrow just to go somewhere in private just to finish the book once and for all.'_

"..." Kirby's look became one of slight upset as he read this entry. _'I'm not THAT annoying... Am I...?'_ After checking to see if there were any more written pages, he closed the book and placed it in the exact spot it. _'Well, at least I know where he might be now.'_ He walked out of Meta-Knight's room, shut the door, and ran to his own room. He grabbed his Warp Star from out of his toy chest and flew out of his open window.

He quickly ascended so high that the entire mansion could be seen. After believing he had flown high enough while still able to see everyone already outside, he looked towards every other location, hoping to find the knight in any of those areas.

"Hmmm... Uh?" He looked towards a steep hill and could make out a metallic gold object near the tree and what appeared to be a large pile of snow beside it. He descended towards the tree and slowed down near it. Up close, he could tell it was Meta-Knight's Galaxia covered in a thick coating of ice. He hopped off of his Warp Star and picked up the sword, removing the ice by whacking it against the tree and shaking the remaining bits off.

"Mmgh..."

"?" Kirby heard a groan that was barely audible but sounded as if it was nearby.

"Mmmmgghhh..."

The puff heard the groan again. He either believed he was crazy or that the noise was coming from the pile of snow. He inhaled nothing but cold air, inflating himself, and then blew a strong gust of icy wind at the pile. After all of the snow was gone, Kirby was shocked to find who it was, despite the Galaxia being right next to the pile...

Meta-Knight was frozen solid with his wings wrapped around his body. He still appeared to be asleep, completely unaware of becoming frozen. His book was also next to his feet, covered in ice too.

"...W-wow...," Kirby uttered, slightly baffled that someone like Meta-Knight would sleep through something like this. _'I need to get him home and fast...'_

Kirby held the book and Galaxia inside his mouth and grabbed hold of one of the knight's wings. He began to slowly pull his friend towards the Warp Star, but as he reached the star, he had accidentally snapped half of the left wing off.

"D'ah!" He instantly dropped the wing and looked at Meta-Knight, slightly scared he might've caused him pain. Fortunately, and shockingly, he was still asleep in his temporary frozen prison. "...How...?"

He looked back towards the piece of frozen wing laying on the snow. He picked up the broken wing and attempted to stick it back on its rightful place a few times, but fell back down every time. He wasn't quite sure what else to do with it..., so he kicked snow over it until it couldn't be seen anymore. Problem solved. He then hopped onto his Warp Star, grabbed the knight's icy hand, and carefully pulled him onto the star before flying off towards the Mansion. As Kirby flew at a steady pace, the warm light from the Warp Star actually helped melt the frozen body, but only a bit. The bottom of Meta-Knight's frozen body melted, causing it to become flat and added friction to the star. They had returned to the Mansion through Kirby's open window. He held on to the frozen body and landed on the ground, tossing the Warp Star in the toy chest and placing the frozen Star Warrior in one corner of the room.

"Stay," Kirby commanded the hunk of ice before walking out of his room.

Over the time he had left the room, Meta-Knight's body slowly began to melt. The thick coating of ice soon became a thin sheet as the melted ice formed a puddle around him the knight.

"Ow ow ow... Owowow ow...!" Kirby rushed inside the room, holding three hot and steaming towels in front of his face. Peach's hair dryer was also on top of the stack of towels. He had wisely asked for her permission before taking it. After he placed the towels down beside Meta-Knight, his face was revealed to be a deep shade of red from the hot towels. He rubbed his face in a bit of relief. "Phew..."

He grabbed the pink hair dryer from the top of the stack of towels, plugged it into an outlet, and switched the device on low heat. He aimed the hair dryer towards Meta-Knight as hot air vented towards him. The puff whistled Green Hill Zone to himself as he aimed the hair dryer at several parts of the knight's body. Soon enough, the rest of the ice had melted and Meta-Knight was shivering but still sleeping. Kirby unplugged the hair dryer from the socket and wrapped the cord up before grabbing a hot towel and cleaning up the puddle of water around his friend. He tossed the used towel aside and grabbed the second towel, using it to wipe the cold water from the knight. He had already seen Meta-Knight's "life-changing secret," so wiping his face was no problem. He then grabbed the second towel and wrapped it around the knight's body.

"There," Kirby sighed, tossing the last towel into the pile.

"Zzzzz..." Meta-Knight snored softly, still shivering.

"Geez..." Kirby was still baffled by how he could sleep through all of this. He just shrugged and picked up the knight. The puff carried the knight over his head, walking out of his room and to his friend's. after awkwardly opening the door again, he carried Meta-Knight inside and carefully placed him on the bed, placing a blanket over him.

Minutes later, Meta-Knight's glowing eyes slowly opened as he stifled a yawn. "Ugh..." He sat up and looked around him. "...My room...?" He looked down at himself, noticing he was in his bed and was also feeling much warmer compared to when he was reading a book. "How did I get here...?" He removed the blanket and found himself wrapped around a warm town. "...?" He removed the towel and folded it neatly before hopping out of his bed and tidying it up.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Meta-Knight could hear Kirby's yelps. Before he could walk out of the room, the puff came inside, carrying a tray with two mugs of hot chocolate.

"Oh, poyo! Owowow...!" Kirby quickly placed the tray of drinks on the floor in front of Meta-Knight.

"Kirby?"

"Hm?"

"Do you know how I got here? And...where is my book and sword...?"

"Um... Oh!" Kirby smacked himself in the head. He ran out of the room and to his. He then returned, holding the cleaned Galaxia sword and the dried novel in his stubby arms. "Poyo," he chirped, neatly placing the items on the knight's desk.

"Oh, thank you," Meta-Knight said gratefully. "But can you tell me exactly how I got here? I was outside reading my book some time ago."

Kirby nodded and sat down in front of the tray before telling him what happened. "'Kay. Poyo poyo poyo poyo poyo poyo po, but poyo poyo."

"Ah, yes, we always create ice sculptures during the first week of winter as if it were tradition. Forgive me, but I just wanted to be alone to finally finish my book. Unfortunately, I'm still not finished with it...," Meta-Knight groaned.

"Poyo poyo poyo poyo poyo, but poyo poyo." Kirby then pointed to the small handbook in the desk. "I...poyo poyo."

"What...?" Meta-Knight's voice rose slightly. "You looked in my diary?"

"Um... Poyo poyo poyo poyo...?"

"No, Kirby, girls aren't the only ones with diaries...," he sighed. "Just... How many entries did you read...?"

"Ummm... Four," Kirby answered.

"...And what four were they...?" Meta-Knight asked.

Kirby explained to him what the three entries he read were still in the language only the knight was familiar with. After figuring out what the last entry Kirby read was, Meta-Knight looked down at the floor, feeling guilty that the innocent lung puff had figured out how he felt about him at times.

"...You...read that part, huh...?"

Kirby nodded, though he didn't appear to be affected by it too badly. The boy simply shrugged and took a sip of his hot chocolate. "Poyo poyo poyo, poyo poyo poyo."

"Oh... Well, I'm very thankful that you read that last entry, if it really helped you find me," the knight admitted. "And I'm very, very sorry for saying what I said about you..."

"Oh, poyo!" Kirby smiled, taking another sip.

"You're forgiving me this quickly...?"

"Yep!" Kirby nodded.

"...?" Meta-Knight shook his head, laughing a bit. "You always were a mystery, you know that?"

Kirby laughed along before drinking the last of his chocolate. "Uh-huh."

Meta-Knight smiled under his masked and looked down at his mug. He had never even taken a sip of it yet. "Well, you've already seen my face once, so..." He let out a deep sigh, grabbing the bottom of his mask and slowly pulling it up.

After Kirby shook the last drop of the cocoa onto his tongue, he looked towards Meta-Knight and his eyes nearly popped out of its sockets. It had been more than a decade since he had seen the knight's face and the puff thought it would be the only time. He looked no different than he did that time. His face was identical to Kirby's in every way except color. His eyes were pure white and his cheek were a permanent deep shade of pink. He appeared to be slightly puzzled, most likely because he was still uneasy about revealing his face, whether people had already seen it or not.

"It'd be rude of me to refuse something like this from you for such a thing," he added, picking up the mug and drinking his cocoa.

"...Y-yeah..." Kirby said. Even he still wasn't adapted to the knight's face. In fact, the voice of the man who looked exactly like the innocent and cute boy himself was...quite disturbing, actually.

"Um... Kirby...?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"I...I know we haven't always been able to spend time together like this... Mostly because I honestly couldn't be bothered..." He looked at Kirby's face, noticing that the puff was frowning a bit, before letting out a deep sigh. "...It's not that I'm not grateful to have you by my side at times, Kirby. Understand that, please. I just... I feel as though I musn't waste my time with the things you do, the things that you as a child have the freedom of doing. Meanwhile, I as the adult and knight feel it is my duty to protect all of Pop Star... I also felt the need to protect you at times, Kirby..."

Kirby looked away from the mug and at the knight. "Wha...? Me?"

Meta-Knight nodded before quickly drinking the rest of his cocoa. "But after the event that happened on Pop Star due to that poor alien, I've beeb thinking. and I've confirmed two things..."

"What?" Kirby asked.

"You don't need me to protect you anymore..." Meta-Knight wiped his face with a napkin and placed his mask back on. "And the second thing is... I have something to give you..."

The two Star Warriors travelled to Pop Star, their home planet which was also covered in blankets or snow. The two arrived in front of Dedede's castle, which the so-called king never bothered to rebuild after Bowser's raid years ago. Meta-Knight revealed a secret spiral staircase that surrounded the rubble that was formerly a fountain of stone Waddle Dees.

"Whoa..."

Meta-Knight chuckle a bit as he saw Kirby's reaction. "Come on, friend," he said, walking down the staircase.

"'Kay." Kirby followed, looking left and right at the stone walls.

After what felt like half an hour of walking, the two reached where the knight wanted them to be. Kirby's thought as to why the staircase was so long was answered once Meta-Knight opened the thick steel door. "...Wh-wh-wha...?"

Kirby stared upwards at the Halberd 2.0 in amazement. The ship appeared to be almost twice the size of the original. The wings and front of the battleship were unfinished and it appeared to be touted with triple the laser turrets and cannons the original had.

"Yes, it's pretty amazing, but this isn't why I brought you here," Meta-Knight told the puff. He walked towards a steel door to his right, which had an electronic lock and keyboard.

"Oh..." Kirby followed and stopped behind the knight.

After Meta-Knight had pressed a set of numbers on the keyboard, causing the door to unlock, before twisting the handle and pulling the door open. "What I want to give you is in here."

"Ohh. Poyo poyo poyo?"

"Hehehe. No, Kirby, not an early Christmas present. Stay here for one second, please," he ordered as he walked inside the small room.

Kirby nodded, swaying his stubby arms back and forth. After a few seconds had passed, Meta-Knight walked out of the room and shut the door, holding a metallic grey suitcase in his hand.

"Hm?" The puff stared at the case as Meta-Knight used a key he kept inside his shoe to unlock the case.

"...You really have come far, haven't you...?" Meta-Knight opened the case and stared at the contents of it. "...You've come so far, I believe you rightfully deserve this..." The first item he pulled out was a polished platinum-white mask that looked similar to his own, but with a cross-shaped opening. "Here." He held it out for Kirby to hold.

"Huh?" Kirby held the mask and placed it over his face. It was almost a perfect fit, although it was only a tad larger. "Ahh."

"Heh. And now, this... There was one more item, but unfortunately, only this and the mask were able to be saved..." He pulled out a long, hot-pink lance and slowly closed the case. Staring at the lance for a moment, he glided a hand over the blade, sighing.

"Um... Poyo poyo...?" Kirby asked. He didn't know if it was the mask corrupting his vision, but he swore he could see a single tear fall down Meta-Knight's mask.

"Yes...," the knight answered. "I'm...alright, Kirby... I'm just thinking of the past..." He wiped the tear away and took a few steps closer to Kirby. "Remove the mask and place it in front of you."

Kirby nodded, removing the mask and placing it in front of him as if it were looking up at him.

"Good. Now bow your head..."

"?" He did what he was told again, looking down with his eyes closed.

"Good. Now..." Meta-Knight raised the lance up and gently placed the tip upon Kirby's head. "Star Warrior Kirby... You yourself have earned the rank of Star Knight... And in memory of every fallen Star Warrior in the past..., I hand down to you the legendary sword of one of the Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy..., you are the new Galacta Knight... You are, in my eyes, the greatest of us all, Kirby, and I am blessed to have met such a magnificent young man..." He removed the lance from Kirby's head. "You can move now, my friend."

Kirby looked back at the knight, smiling. "Poyo poyo poyo poyo poyo?"

"Oh, no, you don't have to be like me just yet. You still have growing up to do, but you may take up the responsibility whenever you feel ready."

"Oh, 'kay. Poyo," the puff thanked, extending his stub hand.

Meta-Knight stared at the stub before gladly taking it into his gloved hand. Then, catching Kirby by surprise, he pulled him into a hug. "You're very welcome, Kirby," he replied, patting the puff's back, causing the boy to let out a small burp. He pulled away from the hug and looked at Kirby. "...You ruined the moment."

"Sorry," Kirby apologized with an embarrassed blush on his face. "...Scusi..."

"...Hehehe... Hahahaha...!" Meta-Knight bursted into a small fit of laughter at his friend and placed the mask and lance back inside the case. "Oh you. Let's head back, okay?"

"'Kay." Kirby nodded. After locking up the door to the small room and the room holding the Halberd 2.0, he followed the knight up the staircase.

"And Kirby?"

"Yeah?"

Meta-Knight flapped his broken wing and looked back at him. "Care to tell me what you did with part of my wing?"

"...Uhm..."

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**Wow, this is definitely the longest one-shot I've written. Hopefully it'll pay off in the end though.**

**Please review. Thank you. :)**


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